Friday, December 20, 2013

I planned to knit a zipped cardigan to my daughter because I had this purple-gray no-name bouclé yarn in my stash. I thought it would be perfect to experiment with the zipped front.
(Bouclé yarn is a nightmare: I had several dropped stitches on the right side. Luckily they do not run down… :-P )
The design is as simple as possible: straight body and set in sleeves with long (upturnable) ribbed cuffs. Of
course I had forgot to add 2 more centimetres to the fronts (I had not
wanted a band) - so I had to rehung the fronts to the machine and knit 8 additional
rows. But the issue ended surprisingly nicely: the zipper fitted the band almost perfectly. Next time I knit CX-CX (tubular) so the zipper will be covered in both side - this will be the perfect solution.
In the end the research resulted a very wearable cardigan (although I think that the neckline a bit too wide and next time I kit the sweater definitely longer)
And my daughter love it very much.

Friday, December 6, 2013

I love the Fabergé by
Laura Aylor - so I must have translated it to the machine.

I dreamed a tunic with empire wairst-line to my daughter. She likes pink so I choose this dark grey for the base yarn. The front was knitted with pink beads while the back is simple without them - it is interesting how the beads changed the pattern...

The bands are reversed commercial stocking stitch bands - crocheted off with the shiny pink yarn used as second yarn. Based on the original plan I should have sewn on a button - but I thought it was better without it.

Over all we (my daughter and I) are fond of this little tunic but even more it was approved by my mother: 'Finally it is long enough to cover her waist so do not catch a cold!"

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

I know it was long ago that I wrote about my knittings but I promise to try posting more often.

First I would like to show my new cowl - tube scarf with cable. It is not a difficult cable pattern but I think it is more than enough for this simple design. The tube height is perfect to hide your neck and chin comfortably on cold days.
The yarn is a loose plied merino wool and that is why it's not too flexible - conversely it is so unbelievably soft. Really is...

Saturday, October 5, 2013

This is my favourite apple pie.The base is a simple shortcrust dough - suitable for several other cakes as well...

300 g plain flour

200 g butter

100 g caster sugar

1 egg

0,5 dl sour cream

1/2 pack (6 g) baking powder

lemon zest

orange zest

1 kg apple

vanilla sugar

cinnamon

grounded walnut (or bread crumbs)

Preheat oven to 200 °C. Grease a cake tin (approx 20 x 30cm).

In a bowl mix the flour, caster sugar and the baking powder, knead in the egg yolk, butter, lemon and orange zest to form the dough. Work as quickly as possible to prevent the dough becoming warm. Chill it in the fridge at least for one hour - during you can make the filling.

Ground the apple and flavour it with the cinnamon and the vanilla sugar and mix with the walnut or bread crumb to take up the apple juice.

Divide the cold dough in two. On floured surface roll out the first part to reach the size fitting in the cake tin with a little edge. Prick pastry bottom all over with a fork and spread the filling on top of it. Cover it with the other rolled dough and egg-wash the top at least three times - in changing directions. Finally prick this all over as well.

Monday, September 30, 2013

We have a few apples. This is the season and our two (!!!) apple trees are loaded with the riped fruits.
I have to think hard what to bake (or cook) form it? Apple pie this way, apple pie that way. French apple pie. Apple pie. (My husband dreams of cider and apple brandy. And apple champagne.) So I will post our family 's apple pies recipes...

Friday, August 9, 2013

Let's get dressed for our mug! Or at least choose our jewellery to match it...
I will definitely do it for my new Silver Nights mug!
If you want to see more of this kind of game go to Star of the East blog.